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Minnesota startup RoadTab hopes to make the car repair process as simple and easy as one, two, three with the introduction of a new online platform.

“I used to own a small car dealership,” explains Jacob Phillips, co-founder of RoadTab and attorney by trade. “I was buying used cars from auctions and they always needed repairs. I thought that there must be a better way to do this.”

In partnership with Tiny Mission, the Web and app development shop who designed Fraser’s Apps for Autism, Phillips created RoadTab as a means to make the auto repair estimate process easier and less expensive.

In as little as a minute, a driver who needs new brake pads, auto glass, or any other general repair/ maintenance can reach out to RoadTab’s growing mechanic base of car-repair shops. On average, drivers get an estimate back within a couple of hours and it tends to be more competitive than just walking into a shop unknowingly.

Once the driver gets an estimate they can accept the offer and set something up with the garage, or wait and price shop additional offers. And the platform doesn’t just benefit drivers.

Mechanics can access a new customer base through the site for a relatively low cost. Currently any repair shop can use RoadTab for free when they only reply to three requests for estimates. After that, the current prices go to $19.99 per month or $199 per year for unlimited use. “Affordable to reach a targeted audience, compared to the high price of modern marketing efforts,” Phillips says.

RoadTab has introduced the product in the Twin Cities and foresees broader expansion…down the road.